London Terrace

405 West 23rd Street | also 401 West 23rd Street, 410 West 24th Street, 225 9th Avenue | Chelsea | built 1932

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Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1845

    An earlier London Terrace of about 80 row houses rises on this block

    The name predates the current buildings. In 1845 roughly 80 houses modeled on London terraces, designed by the architect Alexander Jackson Davis, were built on this Chelsea block. They stood for more than eighty years before being demolished to make way for the much larger apartment complex that took over the name.

    Source: Wikipedia

  2. 1929

    October 25

    Tillie Hart holds out at 429 West 23rd Street until sheriffs empty her house onto the sidewalk

    By October 1929 developer Henry Mandel had demolished every older building on the block that London Terrace now fills except 429 West 23rd Street, where Tillie Hart said her sublease ran until May 1930. The prime lease had already expired, but she barricaded herself in and, according to Andrew Alpern, pelted would-be intruders with bricks and stones while her lawyers delayed matters in court. Sheriffs got in on October 25 and left her belongings on the pavement. She slept in the house that night and gave up the next day, and wreckers then pulled it down.

    Source: londonterracetowers.com

  3. 1930

    London Terrace offers a 75-by-35-foot pool, an ocean-liner deck and free page boys

    Mandel's complex put 1,665 apartments in one block, with the ten midblock buildings done in 1930 and four corner towers following in 1931. Amenities included a 75-by-35-foot indoor pool with viewing galleries, a gymnasium, a supervised rooftop play area for children and a deck furnished like an ocean liner's, 21 stories above the street. Residents also had free page boys, a message-taking service and a package room that delivered to apartments on call.

    Source: londonterracetowers.com

  4. 1930

    May

    Henry Mandel opens London Terrace, one of the world's largest apartment complexes

    Developer Henry Mandel began building the new London Terrace, designed by Farrar & Watmough, in late 1929, and the first buildings opened in May 1930. Finished that November at a cost of more than $25 million, its 14 connected buildings held about 1,700 apartments, ranking among the largest apartment buildings in the world. Amenities included an Olympic-size swimming pool, a gymnasium, restaurants and a garage with club rooms for chauffeurs.

    Source: Wikipedia

  5. 1932

    Babe Ruth plays Santa Claus at the London Terrace Christmas party

    At the complex's Christmas party in 1932, Yankees star Babe Ruth dressed as Santa Claus and handed out presents to hundreds of children. Some lived at London Terrace, while the Salvation Army had invited others. After the gifts were distributed, he revealed who he was to loud cheers, and he and his wife signed autographs and visited apartments.

    “Yankees baseball legend Babe Ruth dressed as Santa Claus and distributed gifts to hundreds of children.”

    Source: Wikipedia

  6. 1932

    Developer Henry Mandel goes bankrupt as London Terrace falters

    Just two years after opening London Terrace, developer Henry Mandel enters personal bankruptcy in 1932 with debts of more than $14 million. The complex itself defaults on its mortgage the following spring, a casualty of the Great Depression that also emptied many of the city's new luxury buildings. Occupancy recovers to ninety-four percent by January 1934, helped by subway access, lower rents, and the building's amenities.

    Source: Wikipedia

  7. 1988

    London Terrace Towers goes co-op, offering a one-bedroom for $150,000 that once rented for $90

    After the Depression-era foreclosure, disputes over London Terrace's title lasted until 1945, when the ten inner buildings and the four corner towers were split. The inner buildings stayed rentals as London Terrace Gardens, while the Towers were later converted to a condominium-co-op. According to Andrew Alpern, when the Towers went co-op in 1988, a one-bedroom that had rented for $90 a month went on offer for $150,000, with $725 in monthly carrying charges.

    Source: londonterracetowers.com

  8. 1992

    A dispute breaks out over the Olympic-sized pool's rent status

    London Terrace's Olympic-sized swimming pool, one of the amenities Henry Mandel built to attract Depression-era tenants, becomes the subject of an ongoing dispute in 1992 over whether pool access is included in tenants' rent. The pool remains one of the complex's signature features, alongside its internal dial telephone system and roof deck.

    Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

Nearby

All 72 buildings with stories in Chelsea